Features

Is Your Car One of the Top 10 Most Stolen Vehicles?

October 27, 2011

There are some lists you would love to land on and others you’d kindly rather not. The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s (NICB) top 10 most stolen vehicles list is one list it is pretty safe to assume we’d all rather not see our vehicle listed on.

Both newer cars and older cars are prone to theft. Many older models are stolen for their parts, which are then sold individually, while newer cars that are stolen are often resold as a whole with a fake vehicle identification number (VIN) and are sometimes shipped and sold out of the country.

Top 10 Most Stolen Vehicles in the United States in 2010

While foreign automakers Honda and Toyota topped the list (an ongoing trend since 2000) this was the first time nationally since 2002 that more domestic makes were stolen than imported makes. The good news is that vehicle theft appears to be on the decline, with preliminary 2010 FBI crime stats showing a 7.2% decline from thefts posted in 2009.

To see the top ten most stolen vehicles by state, click here. We suggest following some basic car theft prevention tips to avoid making your car an easy target for car thieves. If your vehicle is listed on the national list or in the top ten list in your state (especially if your car also matches the most frequent model year stolen of that vehicle make) you may want to take extra precautions such as adding a car alarm and/or a vehicle tracking system.

If you have information regarding a stolen vehicle or insurance fraud, you can report it anonymously by calling 1-800-TEL-NICB (1-800-835-6422), texting “fraud” to TIP411 (847411) or by visiting www.nicb.org.

Don’t Overpay for a New Car

Whether you’re replacing a stolen vehicle, replacing an older model, or you’re just ready to buy a new car or truck, be sure to visit www.truecar.com to learn the fair market price for the vehicle(s) you’re interested in buying. TrueCar doesn’t just show you the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), which is just the starting price for negotiations. TrueCar also shows you what other people actually paid for a particular make/model of a vehicle, even down to the options, in the last 30 days, then gets you an even better price from a TrueCar Certified Dealer near you.